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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Pezenas Consular Prison, also known as the 18th century Palace of Justice, is an emblematic 16th century building. Its front door, doric style, is distinguished by a skewed arrangement of the columns and an entanglement adorned with carved triglyphs and metopes (rosettes, bucrânes). The arch in the middle of the hang and the scotch with foliage underline its Renaissance character. Inside, a sloping corridor leads to a courtyard where a two-span facade has bays with alternately curved and triangular pediments. The screw staircase, housed in a polygonal cage, could be anterior to the rest of the construction.

The Jewish Gate, thus named because of its proximity to the Jewish ghetto of Pézenas (attested since 1313), displays a classical entourage with ovoid columns and a parallelogram frieze, probably designed to create a perspective effect in a narrow space. The building, contiguous to the old wall of the city, belonged to the family of Agde de Fondousse from the 16th to the 17th century. Antoine d The Renaissance Gate has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1933.

Originally, the house was divided into three houses, with a passage to the rue des Litanias. Its location near the Faugères Gate, a vestige of the fortified enclosure, reinforces its historical importance. The building illustrates the civil architecture of the Languedoc Renaissance, combining classical influences and local adaptations. Its use as a consular prison and courthouse reflects its central role in the administrative life of Pézenas.

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